The Digital Hammurabi Podcast

In this episode of Digital Hammurabi, host Megan Lewis welcomes back writer and journalist Emily Wilson to discuss her latest book, "Gilgamesh," the second installment in her epic trilogy about the Sumerians. Emily shares insights into the continuation of the story, which follows the goddess Inanna, her attendant Ninshubur, and the hero Gilgamesh, while introducing new characters and voices. Megan and Emily also touch on ...

In this episode of Digital Hammurabi, host Megan Lewis welcomes Dr. Mark Goodacre, a Professor of Religious Studies at Duke University, to discuss the Synoptic Gospels. Dr. Goodacre, who has an extensive academic background including degrees from the University of Oxford and several published works, shares insights into his upcoming university-level course on the Synoptic Gospels through Bart Ehrman's Biblical Studies Academy....

Join us in this exciting episode of Digital Hammurabi as host Megan Lewis sits down with Dr. Tate Paulette, an Associate Professor at North Carolina State University and an expert in Near Eastern Archaeology. Dr. Paulette shares insights from his upcoming book, In the Land of Ninkasi: A History of Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia, set to be released on August 28th in the US and November 24th elsewhere. 

In this episode, we expl...

Dr. Eric Cline, Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, discusses his new book "After 1177 BCE: The Survival of Civilization" and the graphic novel adaptation with host, Megan Lewis. They delve into the collapse of major civilizations in the late Bronze Age and the intriguing sequel to his award-winning work. Dr. Cline shares insights on biblical archaeology and international connections during this pivot...

Dr. Tero Alstola, a researcher at the University of Helsinki, discusses his work on ancient Near Eastern cultures and the social history of Babylonia in the first millennium BCE. He talks about his research on ancient immigrants, network approaches to historical data sets, and the use of computer-aided study of the Akkadian language. The conversation delves into his involvement in the 69th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale an...

In this episode of Digital Hammurabi, Dr. Daniel Schwemer, an expert in magic and witchcraft in the Ancient Near East, joins the host to discuss the recent excavation at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Boğazköy-Hattuša. The focus of the conversation is on a tablet written in a previously unknown language that was discovered during the excavation. Dr. Schwemer shares his journey into the study of the Ancient Near East and how he b...

With the Museum of the Bible rarely out of the news due to their stolen, smuggled, or faked artifacts, the antiquities market is getting more attention than ever. Dr. Patty Gerstenblith, research professor of law at DePaul University, founding president of the Lawyers Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, and former chair of the President's Cultural Property Advisory Committee in the U.S. Department of State is not onl...

The Museum of the Bible has a reputation for housing fakes and looted objects; most recently, the institution was in the news for their forged Dead Sea Scrolls, the arrest of their consultant, Dr. Dirk Obbink, and the revelation that the famous "Gilgamesh Dream Tablet" housed in the museum was removed from Iraq illegally. 

Dr. Joel Baden, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale Divinity School, joins Megan to talk abou...

Bethany Hucks is a Ph.D. student at the University of Heidelberg, studying the Roman reuse of Egyptian motifs in material culture. Listen in to hear about her Ph.D. research, and about why diversity is so important for the study of the ancient world.

Originally recorded June 7th 2020.

Bethany on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RomanAegyptiaca

White Homework: https://www.toriglass.com/white-homework
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Death is the one common thread binding humanity together, but how we treat the dead and think about the afterlife varies by culture. Dr. Pinar Durgun is an archaeologist and art historian primarily interested in Anatolian burial practices, and in this episode of the Digital Hammurabi Podcast, she talks to us about jar burials, the afterlife, and ghosts in the ancient world. 
Originally recorded October 12th 2019.

Episo...

What importance does ancient Egypt hold for modern Egyptians, and what can museums do to recognize and honor this relationship? In this episode, Megan talks to Heba Abd el Gawad, Egyptian Egyptologist, Ph.D. student at Durham University, and postdoctoral researcher on the "Egypt’s dispersed heritage: views from Egypt" project at the University College of London. 

Relevant links:
Scattered Finds: http://www.oa...

For our inaugural podcast episode, we chose to focus on one of the most important technological innovations of the ancient world - the invention of writing! This episode introduces you to cuneiform, the writing system developed during the late 4th millennium BCE, with an interview with Dr. Jennifer Ross of Hood College, and a narration of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, the Sumerian literary composition that explains how and why w...